Monk’s men face a play-off lottery

Middlesbrough didn’t turn up at Wembley when they were in the play-off final against Norwich...and that memory haunts some fans THE season may be less than halfway through but Boro are already facing the likely reality of play-offs rather than automatic promotion.

Chairman Steve Gibson’s hopes Boro might “smash the Championship” do not promise to bear fruit.

Statistically the Teessiders can catch the likes of runaway leaders Wolves and Cardiff City - but current form suggests they won’t.

At the end of October and early November Boro won three games in a row and raised hopes they might be moving into top gear.

Unfortunately it has proved to be a false dawn. So it is the lottery of the play-offs at best.

Boro have been there before, of course. They cruised past Brentford three years ago to earn a Wembley showdown against Norwich.

However, Boro failed to turn up at Wembley. That is a worry which will continue to

haunt some fans.

If Garry Monk can take Boro into the play-offs then it will be a personal first.

His Leeds United side suffered a late run of poor results last season and missed out at the death.

Clearly Boro have enough quality to win a play-off place but so far they have lacked consistency of performance.

Monk appeared to have done everything right during the summer with his £40m worth of signings, which suggested Boro had a squad which was good enough to win this league.

However, it took a while for Monk to work out his best team - by which time Boro were already playing catch-up.

The main concern about this squad is its desire.

There have been times when the players appeared reluctant to run the extra yard.

We witnessed an unacceptable lack of commitment in the second half against Derby County, while two games earlier the Teessiders failed to compete against a Leeds side which had been treading water.

Boro’s home form is a worry. They had been struggling for results at the Riverside when they beat Sunderland, against the run of play, while they were fortunate Birmingham had very little to offer.

The defeat at the hands of Derby was shambolic, so Boro have a great deal to prove when they entertain Ipswich Town next Saturday.

In fact, assuming they must settle for the play-offs at best, the match against the Tractor Boys is a six-pointer.

Boro’s record in crunch games this season is not great.

Certainly a few players may have believed it was going to be easier than this - but the facts prove the Teessiders are far from being the best team in the Championship.

If they can grasp the reality of the situation, dig deeper and put together an unbeaten run over the festive period then who knows what can happen?

Desire, character and confidence are going to be key in the next few weeks.